King James Version

Ecclesiastes 11:1

Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.

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Hebrew

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שַׁלַּ֥חshalachsendשָׁלַחverb, piel, imperative, 2nd person, masculine, singular — “send”, a commandH7971to send away, for, or out (in a great variety of applications)[idiom] any wise, appoint, bring (on the way), cast (away, out), conduct, [idiom] earnestly, forsake, give (up), grow long, lay, leave, let depart (down, go, loose), push away, put (away, forth, in, out), reach forth, send (away, forth, ou…לַחְמְךָ֖lachmekhabreadלֶחֶםnoun, common, both genders, singular, construct, suffix, pronominal, 2nd person, masculine, singular — “bread”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH3899food (for man or beast), especially bread, or grain (for making it)(shew-) bread, [idiom] eat, food, fruit, loaf, meat, victuals.עַלalaboveעַלpreposition — “above”H5921above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsabove, according to(-ly), after, (as) against, among, and, [idiom] as, at, because of, beside (the rest of), between, beyond the time, [idiom] both and, by (reason of), [idiom] had the charge of, concerning for, in (that), (forth, out) of,…פְּנֵ֣יpenea- foreפָּנִיםnoun, common, both genders, plural, construct — “a- fore”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH6440the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.)[phrase] accept, a-(be-) fore(-time), against, anger, [idiom] as (long as), at, [phrase] battle, [phrase] because (of), [phrase] beseech, countenance, edge, [phrase] employ, endure, [phrase] enquire, face, favour, fear of, for, forefront(-…הַמָּ֑יִםhamayimthe waterמַיִםdefinite article, noun, common, masculine, plural, absolute — “the water”, the ordinary formH4325water; figuratively, juice; by euphemism, urine, semen[phrase] piss, wasting, water(-ing, (-course, -flood, -spring)).כִּֽיkiassuredכִּיconjunction — “assured”H3588(by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexedand, + (forasmuch, inasmuch, where-) as, assured(-ly), + but, certainly, doubtless, + else, even, + except, for, how, (because, in, so, than) that, + nevertheless, now, rightly, seeing, since, surely, then, therefore, + (al-) though, + til…בְרֹ֥בverovin abundanceרֹבpreposition, noun, common, both genders, singular, construct — “in abundance”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH7230abundance (in any respect)abundance(-antly), all, [idiom] common (sort), excellent, great(-ly, -ness, number), huge, be increased, long, many, more in number, most, much, multitude, plenty(-ifully), [idiom] very (age).הַיָּמִ֖יםhayamimthe as long asיוֹםdefinite article, noun, common, masculine, plural, absolute — “the as long as”, the ordinary formH3117a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)age, [phrase] always, [phrase] chronicals, continually(-ance), daily, ((birth-), each, to) day, (now a, two) days (agone), [phrase] elder, [idiom] end, [phrase] evening, [phrase] (for) ever(-lasting, -more), [idiom] full, life, as (so) lon…תִּמְצָאֶֽנּוּtimtsaenvcomeמָצָאverb, qal, imperfect, 2nd person, masculine, singular, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “come”, an unfinished actionH4672properly, to come forth to, i.e. appear or exist; transitively, to attain, i.e. find or acquire; figuratively, to occur, meet or be present[phrase] be able, befall, being, catch, [idiom] certainly, (cause to) come (on, to, to hand), deliver, be enough (cause to) find(-ing, occasion, out), get (hold upon), [idiom] have (here), be here, hit, be left, light (up-) on, meet (with)…

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days.

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days.

Young’s Literal Translation

Send forth thy bread on the face of the waters, For in the multitude of the days thou dost find it.

World English Bible

Cast your bread on the waters; for you shall find it after many days.

Darby Translation

Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days.

Douay-Rheims

Cast thy bread upon the running waters: for after a long time thou shalt find it again.

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days.

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

Send forth thy bread upon the face of the water: for thou shalt find it after many days.

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

Ἀπόστειλον τὸν ἄρτον σου ἐπὶ πρόσωπον τοῦ ὕδατος, ὅτι ἐν πλήθει ἡμερῶν εὑρήσεις αὐτόν.